Women have been entering the worlds of business and the professions in ever increasing numbers in recent years. This requires that they dress in a rather formal way, including the need for dress shoes. The term dress shoe includes a wide range of shoes, e.g., opera pumps to high fashion shoes. Dress shoes can have a wide range of heel heights and shapes, from a modest 2 inch heel to a 3-4 inch stiletto heel. The higher the heel, the more difficult the shoes are to walk in for extended periods and distances than flat heeled shoes, and they slow down the walker. Thus it has also become the norm for women to wear low heeled walking shoes, and even sneakers, to and from work, and to change shoes when they reach their places of business. This necessitates carrying dress shoes back and forth, or maintaining an extensive shoe wardrobe at the office.
Shoes that can convert from dress to walking shoes have been tried in the past, but have not become commercially successful. Schwartz in U.S. Pat. No. 2,258,265 discloses a shoe with a detachable heel. A fixed heel portion has a shank iron to which heels of varying height can be affixed. However, a wearer's foot inclines at various angles with respect to the ground depending on the height of the heel. No provision is made by Schwartz for changing the shape or inclination of the arch of the shoe depending on the heel height. Thus the wearer will not be comfortable at all potential heel heights.
Sarkissian in U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,126 discloses a shoe with an adjustable heel, but it is set far forward of the heel of the wearer, and has a bulky mechanism making the manufacture of high fashion shoes impossible.
Sarkissian in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,072 discloses a shoe with an adjustable arch. The shoe is made in two sections and the heel height, which is adjustable, also changes the angle of the heel and arch with respect to the toe portion. However, there is no way to change the shape of the arch to maximize the wearer's comfort at varying heel heights.
The prior art shoes are bulky, and means of varying the heel height are cumbersome and inconvenient. Thus high fashion shoes cannot be made with a variable height heel using the concepts of the prior art. There is a need for shoes that allow instant changeover from a walking shoe to a high fashion shoe which has been unmet heretofore.